Have you ever noticed that some friends you go to lunch with spend the whole time complaining? They complain about their lives, about the behavior of others and about the likelihood that lifes only going to get harder for them. Have you ever noticed that you leave these encounters feeling badly?

If youre like me, and many others, the end of the year brings about thoughts of a fresh new year, starting over or doing better. You curl up with pen and paper and draft the list either mentally or literally of your New Year Resolutions.I think resolutions can be a positive self-reflective exercise about what has worked, what has not, and what we want in the year to come.I tend to be …